This invention relates generally to configuring and controlling electronic devices and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for processing a topology language that describes the interconnection of multiple electronic devices.
Electronic components such as video cassette recorders (VCR), televisions, compact disc players, audio/video receivers, sound processors, etc., are becoming more and more sophisticated. Although such devices offer an increased level of performance and functionality, these devices are also becoming more complex to interconnect and control. Therefore, for these reasons and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a language that facilitates the description of electronic components. There is a need for a computing system capable of processing the language in order to recommend suitable configurations for the electronic components. There is also a need for such a computing system that further allows a user to directly control the electronic components based on the description of the electronic components.
As explained in detail below, the present invention provides a topology description language that facilitates the description of electronic components within an electronic environment. A computing system is described that processes the topology description language in order to display suitable configurations, monitor usage, and even directly control the electronic components. The computing system includes a topology engine that processes the unique topology description language and generates topology data as a function of the topology descriptions. An application interfaces with the topology engine to control and configure the electronic components. In one embodiment the application displays a set of controls for direct manipulation by a user. As requested by the application, the topology engine drives a control module that generates commands for controlling the electronic components. These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention.